Friday, May 27, 2016

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy

They only hire the best, you know
Brian, having reached the magic age of 16 and all, finally managed to land a "real" job (as opposed to all the yard work, pet sitting, and garbage-can hauling he's been doing over the past few years for the neighbors). And can I just say here that, hey, I'm against child labor as much as the next guy, but people? 15-year-olds are really old enough to work; what's more, they would be much happier and healthier working scheduled jobs than spending all their free time on their smartphones. So what is UP with all the extra laws about employing under-16's that keep employers from hiring them? 2 years of a part-time job is not long enough to save for college, you know.

Where was I? Oh, yes, so Brian was just hired, and can I just say here how impressed I am by the hiring people at Best Buy who realized what an awesome employee he would be? What a great store!

Dang, I'm proud.

Where am I going with this? I have no idea. Oh, well, moving on...

Summer hit us with a vengeance over the past 2 days - humidity and temps shot up, which meant that I was able to resume my hot-weather hobby of torturing the children. You see, everyone around here, homes and stores alike, seems to set the thermostat all the way down at 70 degrees, which I find incredibly excessive.

Helpful hint: if you have to put on a sweater, maybe you should raise the temp on your AC first?

Being somewhat of a cheapskate, I generally set the air at 78. But often, the air isn't on at all. I'm convinced that, if I just keep the blinds and windows on the sunny side of the house closed (we have an east-west orientation), we can manage our indoor temps the old-fashioned way. My children call this abuse, but I call it bringing them up right.

So yesterday Larry got home close to 7 PM,, glanced at the thermostat, and said heatedly (ha, ha, I SLAY me), "It's 85 degrees in here!" Which sort of surprised me - I mean, I'm not a monster; it's just that if you are sitting in the heat all day, you don't notice it as much. Sort of like that experiment where a frog is boiled in water but doesn't jump out because the water temp is raised so gradually?

Okay, maybe I am a monster. Still, it wasn't on purpose. And now the kids like Larry better. Is that fair? And is it a coincidence that Brian made "place with air conditioning" a priority on his job search list?





6 comments:

  1. 80 is my breaking point. If it's 80 in the house I'm allowed to turn on the air no matter what time of year it is. I guess I'm a wimp.

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  2. AnonymousMay 28, 2016

    Bringing them up right. That's a wonderful way to phrase it. We rarely turn on our AC, but I have a hunch the city feels more stifling than out here in the wide-open shady space. Plus your humidity on the coast is wretched stuff, so even for that you're right to notch it on, not to FREEZE, but to BREATHE.
    Congrats on Brian's job! And yes, I agree! 2 years is NOT adequate time to save for college, I don't get the whole work permit business. If a kid wants a job and is capable, then why the fuss?

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  3. I just put 3 window ac in last night, this have 3 more to go. I hate the heat. If it is above 78 in the house, I turn on the ac. My allergies are killing me this year. I can't open the windows at night and still be able to breathe. Upstairs hall ac the control panel died. You can turn the temperature down, but not back up, and the on off button does not work. It is stuck on 74 degrees. Time to locate the remote control?

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    Replies
    1. I'm finding it harder to breathe in the humidity this year - I don't know if it is due to the remnants of my wicked cold or just to getting older.

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  4. Ah yes, the air conditioner wars. My husband will set it at SIXTY-FIVE. Then I'll notice that my fingers are blue and there is frost collecting on the window panes and I'll have to stomp to the thermostat and set it to 73-ish, which I think is a reasonable compromise. I could probably be happy at 78, but my husband wouldn't.

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  5. My in-laws view the AC as a weakness. They are super quit to turn the heater on though!

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